Citywide project · Regional passenger train plan
Commuter Rail to Racine and Kenosha
Early planning. No cost estimate or start date yet.
The project as a whole
Being studied, planned, or designed. Money to build it has not been approved.
Latest
The map
Map key
Commuter Rail to Racine and Kenosha
- the proposed Milwaukee to Kenosha route
- Alder district borders
The dashed purple line is the proposed route: the Union Pacific Kenosha line, from the regional planning commission's corridor map. Nothing is built yet. Tap any line to see that spot in Google Street View.
The story
MARK stands for Milwaukee Area, Racine, and Kenosha. It is a plan for commuter trains between those cities, connecting at Kenosha to Metra's trains into Chicago. Milwaukee's Common Council voted to join the commission in September 2025.
The trains would use the Union Pacific line along the lakeshore, the same tracks Metra's UP-North trains use in Illinois. A March 2026 report said the line would need years of work first: new track and stations, new signals, repairs to 22 bridges, and at least six new bridges, including the 1908 swing bridge over the Kinnickinnic River.
This is an earlier stage than it may sound. There is no cost estimate and no start date. The commission is applying to a federal program called Corridor ID. Getting in would pay for a service plan, then engineering and environmental studies, before anything is built.
Timeline
- 2025 · DoneMilwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha form the commission
- 2025 · DonePlanning agreement with Metra proposed
- 2026 · DoneCudahy joins; track and bridge needs listed
- 2026 · UnderwayApplies to federal Corridor ID program
- Not set · PlannedService plan, engineering, environmental review
- Years
- Commission created 2025
Designs, renderings, and plans
What it could look like, from the agencies’ own drawings, renderings, and meeting boards. Each link opens their file.
In the news
Recent stories from local news sites, public radio and TV, and advocacy groups (labeled), found through Google News and updated every morning. Headlines link to the outlet.
Who decides, and how to have a say
The MARK Passenger Rail Commission, made up of the cities of Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha, with Cudahy joining in 2026. Trains would run on Union Pacific track, so the railroad must agree. Federal programs would pay most of the cost, so the Federal Railroad Administration decides whether the project moves forward.
Sources, checked October 31, 2026: Wisconsin Watch, December 10, 2025 (commission members, Metra agreement, federal steps); Daily Reporter, March 9, 2026 (track and bridge upgrades); Milwaukee Magazine (Cudahy and the MARK plan); SEWRPC, Passenger Rail Corridor Study; City of Milwaukee file 250773, adopted September 23, 2025; map: SEWRPC passenger rail corridor map (2023). Street View imagery © Google.